The role of strategic context, operational requirements, and work design in in‐house call centres in the financial sector

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore and describe associations between the strategic (market/industry) context, the operational requirements, and the work design of in‐house, inbound call centres in the financial sector.

Design/methodology/approach

This cross‐sectional study uses data from a survey conducted between February 2002 and September 2005 as part of the Global Call Centre Industry Project, which included call centres from 17 countries. The present analysis is based on a sub‐sample of 375 call centres from that survey.

Findings

Managers of in‐house, inbound call centres in the financial‐services sector claim that they adopt a relationship‐oriented approach to the work of their call centres; however, the present study demonstrates that they fail to design their employees' work appropriately to meet this requirement. This is especially the case for call centres in the insurance sector.

Research limitations/implications

The original data collection was undertaken in a much broader context than this delineated study. There is a need to develop the concepts of relationship building and work design in the context of call centres. There is also a need to explore the perspective of employees with regard to operational requirements and work design and the customer's perception of service quality.

Practical implications

If managers of call centres in the financial‐services sector really wish to encourage relationship building between employees and customers, they need to reconsider the current work design of their call centres.

Originality/value

The paper enhances knowledge of how operational requirements are linked to work design in call centres.

Citation

Strandberg, C. and Dalin, R. (2010), "The role of strategic context, operational requirements, and work design in in‐house call centres in the financial sector", Managing Service Quality: An International Journal, Vol. 20 No. 6, pp. 544-564. https://doi.org/10.1108/09604521011092884